Ivrea offers a window into a nationwide economic reversal that has few real parallels in the developed world. Italy’s economy has barely grown since 1994 and has shrunk since 2000. That is worse than any other country in Europe or any of the 34 rich and developing nations in the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development.

Economists look at a mix of factors to explain the long-term rise of the world’s emerging economies: population and employment trends; private and public investments; the productivity of workers; and the strength of a state’s legal, administrative and institutional environment. On each one of these counts, Italy has regressed since the 1980s.

Journalist, blogger, entrepreneur. On tech culture and society since 1991. Author of a book about Web 2.0 and Social Media in 2006. Co-founder of a startup in 2010. Winner of Premio Nazionale per l'Innovazione del Presidente della Repubblica Italiana in 2012. Now Partner and Advisor at Fashion Technology Accelerator.